In a game that featured more than 800 yards of combined offense and 125 total points, it was a defensive play that sealed the victory for the Maroon Tide Friday night.
Picayune defensive end Ethan Frierson stopped George County running back Khalil Burns for a loss on the final play of the fifth overtime period, denying what would have been the game winning 2-point conversion and securing Picayune’s 63-62 victory in Lucedale.
George County Coach John Douglass opted to go for two and the win rather than kicking the extra point, but after scoring a touchdown on every possession in overtime, the George County offense could not convert.
The Picayune offense was lead by an outstanding performance from running back Gerrell Keaton, who scored six touchdowns on the night and racked up almost 200 yards rushing. Safety Zach Jordan and running back Vyron Brown also scored rushing touchdowns for the Tide, and quarterback Skylar Bowman threw a go-ahead touchdown pass to Brown in overtime. Kicker Jackson Samples was a perfect 9 for 9 kicking extra points, including his final attempt, which would prove to be the decisive sixty-third point the Tide would need to put away a resilient George County team.
George County quarterback Blake Fields was especially impressive, scoring six total touchdowns and accounting for more than 300 total yards of offense in the game.
Fields was a big part of the reason Picayune had to battle back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game in regulation. George County converted a hail mary off a tipped ball at the end of the first half that gave the Rebels a 22-14 lead at halftime, and then scored on their first drive in the second half to make the score 28-14. The Rebels went for two after the score and failed, a mistake that would prove costly later in regulation when Picayune rallied to tie the game.
Coach Dodd Lee and the Maroon Tide improved to 7-0 with the victory. They will host the West Harrison Hurricanes this Friday night in Picayune.